


i'm a mess and you're a work of art

by whitesupras



Category: Malcolm in the Middle
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, High School, Humor, I have no idea how to tag, I started writing this while sick, One Shot Collection, Romance, Series, Sort of? - Freeform, explained more in the summary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:49:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitesupras/pseuds/whitesupras
Summary: "And boom, just like that they were best friends. Or in Reese's case, she was his only friend. Everyone else he either saw as enemies or potential enemies – his words, not hers. And yeah, it felt pretty good to be the only person he liked (or tolerated). It was a huge boost to her ego and the fact that his only friend was a girl was a huge boost to his ego. Everybody won."In which Piper and Reese are best-friends-slash-together and no one around them gets it. │ *Chapters are intended to be read as stand alone one-shots but they all revolve around Piper and Reese in some way. Set during various seasons of Malcolm in the Middle. Further explanation in first chapter notes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So basically what happened with this was, I got a cold and decided to marathon Malcolm in the Middle for a week straight and since I was sick and needed even more ways to occupy my miserable time, this thing happened. Reese is my favorite character from the show if it wasn't obvious. I feel like he got the short end of the stick almost all the time and never got what he deserved in terms of a real friendship and an honest, healthy relationship. That's basically where my OC Piper comes in. I didn't want to write a chaptered series so I figured I'd write a bunch of individual one-shots surrounding these two hooligans, that way I don't feel obligated to write and there's less pressure. There is no real timeline to these - their ages may jump from chapter to chapter depending on the subject I want to write. I'll let you guys know how old the characters are in each chapter and what episodes the chapters are based off of. So yeah. Here goes nothing.
> 
> For this chapter Reese is around 16 yro and it takes place between episodes 4x04-4x07.

It was in that moment she knew she screwed up.

"I'm in love with you."

Piper sat there for a moment, not quite believing that she said what she thought she said. There was no way she actually said those words out loud.

She was going for, "Can you pass the chips?" because he'd been hogging them most of the afternoon like he always did. "I'm in love you with," sounded absolutely nothing like, "Can you pass the chips?" They weren't even in the same universe. It was physically impossible to take a detour from one to the other. And yet she was about 98% sure she really said, "I'm in love with you," because Reese was getting that look on his face. That look that slowly contorted from neutrally dazed to painfully confused, the way he looked at Malcolm whenever Malcolm talked in his I'm-a-child-prodigy voice. And even though Reese was a bit slow on the uptake, she was pretty sure, "Can you pass the chips?" didn't warrant that much brain power even for him.

It was when his painfully confused face phased into one of vague horror that Piper adopted the deer-in-headlights look. This was bad. Abort mission.

"Um."

Her vocabulary seemed to be limited. And Reese was still looking at her in that horror-stricken way like she just told him he had to give up his left arm. And that was a really bad response to her word vomit and kind of painful to witness in a heart-breaking, my-first-crush-hates-me sort of way.

See, Piper didn't like Reese in a _like-like_ way until suddenly she just did. It was like one day she saw him in a totally different light. Or maybe she'd seen him that way all along, she was just too blind to realize it. She started noticing how clear and smooth his skin was; how it was deliciously sun-kissed but also naturally olive-toned. She noticed how full and pink his lips were, especially after a night of biting and tugging at them while he frowned over his English homework. She noticed how unruly his frosted-tipped hair was, most likely as a result of him growing it out longer than usual. She noticed the muscles growing in his arms and the firm way his chest felt whenever she stood too close or was accidentally pushed into him. She noticed how fair his hazel eyes were and how they seemed to shine whenever he smiled that bright white smile of his.

It was all a big cheesefest, really, and Piper nearly gave herself a toothache just thinking about it in great detail.

She never really had that 'I'm in love with my best friend' breakdown that everyone else in her situation seemed to have. She never tried to deny it either and pretend the feeling didn't exist. It was more of like a, "Oh, I'm in love with my best friend. That sucks," sort of thing.

Because no one was more off limits and unattainable than Reese Wilkerson.

Her and Reese had been best friends ever since they were little. Ironically, the reason they became friends was because Piper was just too nice for her own good which is the exact opposite of Reese. They shouldn't have been friends because they were nothing alike but because Reese was such a jerk, he didn't have any friends and she felt bad for him. So she was nice to him.

At first it seemed to really piss him off like she had some secret vendetta against him, but after a while he got used it and they had a mutual understanding but it didn't go beyond her smiling at him in the hallway and him rolling his eyes at her smile. Then when a couple of bullies started making fun of her for her over-sized glasses one day (that she promptly got rid of right after – she was practically blind for two years until her mom let her get contacts because she refused to pay for a new pair of glasses. _Those things are expensive, Piper, don't you know? It's not like this family's made of money_ ), Reese came running in like a knight in shining armor and beat the crap out of them. Apparently "the sun shined out her ass" and she was too nice which inevitably meant that it was morally wrong for someone to be mean to her. She couldn't decide whether to be offended or flattered at first but Reese basically told her to just go with it. So she did.

And boom, just like that they were best friends. Or in Reese's case, she was his only friend. Everyone else he either saw as enemies or potential enemies – his words, not hers. And yeah, it felt pretty good to be the only person he liked (or tolerated). It was a huge boost to her ego and the fact that his only friend was a girl was a huge boost to his ego. Everybody won.

Growing up around the Wilkerson family, it was inevitable for Piper to fall for one of the brothers. Malcolm and Dewey were both too young (and she found Dewey to be the cutest little guy she'd ever seen) and Reese was her best friend which at the time was just _ew_ (plus his constant farting and burping and gross pranks made it really hard for her to find him attractive in any way) so naturally she fell for his older brother Francis. He was always getting into trouble, he was always really nice to her and he was effortlessly good with girls which made for mushy-insides Piper.

When Reese found out he gave her hell for it because of course he did, at first finding it really disgusting and then really funny. Piper rolled her eyes at his teasing and let it pass because he mercifully didn't tell his other brothers about her crush. She mooned over Francis for a good two years before his parents had enough of his bad behavior and shipped him off to military school. Whenever he visited her heart would lurch a little and she'd find any reason in the book to be over at the Wilkerson house while he was there, but as time went on and she started seeing him less and less, the crush slowly faded away.

As her and Reese ventured into junior high, he started getting more interested in girls and honestly that's probably when it all started going downhill for Piper. It didn't happen often but every now and then he'd latch onto a girl at a party and leave Piper in the dust and she'd start to resent the female population as a whole. She knew right away it was jealousy but she just thought she was jealous of them stealing her best friend. And she was partially jealous that he got his first kiss before her and reached second base before she did.

She didn't get her first boyfriend until the year before high school started and it was probably the most awkward experience of her life. They only kissed once and aside from holding hands between classes they never saw each other. She wasn't completely sure what they even did was classified as 'dating'. Hell, she's still not completely convinced he ever existed. Maybe half her year in eighth grade was a mass hallucination, she didn't know.

But honestly, if she'd really imagined that whole relationship, he probably would've been a lot cuter.

"What did you say?" Reese asked, voice strained like he wasn't quite sure he wanted to know.

Piper was pulled back to reality and she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but in the general vicinity of Reese Wilkerson.

"Nothing," she lied, her entire face feeling inflamed. "I didn't say anything. Um," she looked around, pausing until her fight or flight instincts started to kick in, and then she began collecting her things. "I have to go."

"Wait…" Reese kind of looked like his brain was still catching up to his mouth and his eyes were wide as he watched her haphazardly stuff all of her books and papers into her bag.

"I'm just going to… yeah."

She jumped off his bed and tossed her backpack over her shoulder. The homework slid out of Reese's lap and he kicked himself off the bed, stumbling after her even though he didn't look like he knew why.

"Wait, Piper—"

She speed-walked down the hall, hearing his footsteps shuffle after her until they suddenly stopped in the threshold of his doorway as he gave up the chase. She ducked her head down and slipped into the kitchen.

"Hey, are you staying for dinner…?" Lois Wilkerson started to ask, trailing off as Piper ignored her and continued on to the front door where she bolted out before she or Dewey could ask any questions.

Piper's shoes smashed against the pavement as she stomped home, her lips pursed and fists clenched. She was _such_ an idiot. She might have just completely ruined her friendship with Reese all because of word vomit. And it's not like she ever had a problem with blurting out her deep dark secrets before. This was the first time it had ever happened. Out of the two of them she was the _good_ one who knew when to hold her tongue.

Maybe she had a brain tumor. A brain tumor that inhibited the metaphoric filter on her mouth from doing its job. Maybe she'd just go around telling everyone how she felt about them from now on. Maybe that was her life now.

She could try to get Malcolm to look her over, see if she was concussed or something. She couldn't remember hitting her head on anything but a concussion would explain the memory loss, wouldn't it?

_This is so humiliating,_ she thought.

For a second she was afraid she was going to cry but she was too angry at herself to do that. Sometimes when she was angry enough she'd cry too because her tear ducts seemed to be hardwired to her emotions but she wasn't quite there yet. A part of her was hoping all of this was just a nightmare. She'd wake up in the morning to find out she _didn't_ spill her guts to Reese, they finished their homework in peace (read: Piper finished their homework and Reese copied it), she had dinner with his family and then went home. Nothing of the past ten minutes ever actually happened and they had a really nice evening with no unpleasant confessions of the heart.

No dice.

* * *

Getting ready the next morning, Piper hadn't felt so much dread since her freshman year algebra exam.

Her mother gave her a funny look when she only gave one-worded answers but she was thankfully in too much of a rush to voice her concerns about her daughter.

Instead of walking to school, her mother offered to give her a lift which on any other day she would've been grateful for but today it just meant she was going to get to school way too fast. She was actually looking forward to the walk, hoping that it would've cleared her head a bit but now she had to endure a car ride with her neurotic mother.

The ride was silent as her mom went between doing her makeup in the mirror and watching the road like she did whenever she drove Piper to school. Ordinarily she would've been yelling at her mom to watch where she was going but today she couldn't bring herself to care, instead gazing out the window as the scenery flew by much faster than their neighborhood speed limit of 35 mph allowed.

Piper was all but kicked out of the car five minutes later with a hurried 'love you, be good!' and she gazed up at the high school with a knot tightening in her stomach. She half-expected to see Reese jump out of the bushes and corner her but there were two things wrong with that scenario. One, Reese was never actually on time in the morning and she was currently early. And two, he didn't like emotional confrontation. Physical confrontation he was a pro at but talking about feelings kind of made his brain short-circuit. It was more of a boy thing than a Reese thing so she'd give him that one.

Piper crept through the open gates of the school, gazing around at the student body that lingered on benches or stood about idly chatting. She was waiting for someone to make a comment about what happened last night, as if the news had somehow already spread throughout the school. She was waiting for some immature renditions of her and Reese sitting in a tree and spelling out the word kissing but nothing of the sort happened. Everyone continued mingling as she walked past, no one even sparing her a cursory glance, their own personal lives unaffected by her squander. She shouldn't have been so paranoid. It's not like the world would cease to continue spinning just because she was having a midlife crisis. Or a mid-midlife crisis.

It didn't loosen the stiffness in her shoulders or the death grip she had on her backpack straps, though.

She approached a familiar shaggy blonde-haired boy who was replacing a few things in his locker next to hers. She stopped about a foot away, gazing at him miserably.

"I did a really stupid thing last night," she said as a way of greeting. The boy glanced at her. His name was Hunter Davies but ever since elementary school everyone's just stuck with calling him by his last name. She never really knew why but in its own unique way it fit him. "Punch me in the face, Davies."

"And get my ass kicked by Wilkerson? No thanks," Davies dismissed instantly, nose scrunching up. Davies was probably second on her list of closest friends. She'd known him almost as long as Reese, sucked in by his sarcasm and wit that closely rivaled hers. The two of them shared a dark humor that very few people outside their small circle understood.

"I don't think he'll care," said Piper honestly, turning to spin the combination on her locker dial. "The stupid thing that I did? He was on the receiving end of it."

Davies's face still remained passive. "What'd you do, misplace his hair gel?"

"No," Piper wrinkled her nose, her upper lip curling as she put her geometry book in her locker. "I kind of told him I was in love with him."

His locker slammed shut and she felt his eyes penetrating the side of her skull.

"What?" he asked, baffled, with his palm still splayed across his closed locker. "Were you pranking him or something? Maybe he'll kick _your_ ass. There's a first time for everything."

"No," Piper said in a hushed whisper, gritting her teeth. She hid behind her locker door and gave him a look. "It wasn't a prank."

There was a delicate crease between his eyebrows. "Wait… so you're saying you actually have a _thing_ for him?" he looked like he tasted something sour. "Did you have a momentary lapse in judgment?"

Davies was never a big fan of Reese. It could've been because Reese socked him in the eye once in seventh grade for wearing the same shirt as him. Or it could've been because Reese poured spoiled milk down Regis Middleton's pants on the last day of eighth grade and framed Davies for it. Whatever the reason, Davies generally disapproved of anything involving Reese which made it hard for Piper sometimes since about 65% of her life revolved around him.

"I did when I admitted it to him," Piper snapped. " _Now_ will you punch me in the face?"

"Maybe you deserve this," Davies said with a contemplative look on his face. "This is payback for throwing away six years of your life for his friendship."

"You're not funny," she scowled as she pulled free her History textbook and tucked it in her bag. The campus started getting more congested which meant the bell was about to ring soon. "What should I do? Apologize? Avoid him for the rest of my life? In that order? He probably hates me," she sulked.

Davies rolled his eyes. "Don't you have someone else you can talk to about this? Like literally anyone else?"

"No," Piper frowned. "I don't really talk to any girls."

"That could be your problem," Davies replied in a tone that suggested he was about to get really sarcastic with her. The bell rang and Piper closed her locker, eyeing the students around her afraid that she'd see a head of spiked hair poking over the crowd. "All the testosterone's gone to your head. Maybe if you hung out with your own species they'd convince you to have a thing for someone more sensible."

"Are you saying guys aren't sensible?"

"I'm not _not_ saying it."

Piper shook her head and followed alongside Davies into the building. They made their way towards History, a few people greeting Davies as they passed by him with dude-bro handshakes and cool head nods. That was one thing severely different between Davies and Reese – Davies was fairly well liked among the student population whereas everyone avoided Reese, either too afraid of him or too annoyed by him to bother.

"Hey, did you do the homework?" Davies asked her as they slipped into the classroom. Piper was too focused on the fact that they had this class with Reese to pay much attention to his question but the word 'homework' managed to snake its way through her selective hearing and she paled.

"Oh crap, I totally forgot to do it," she gasped, eyes wide as they sat in their assigned seats. Luckily she sat in front of Davies and across the room from Reese. Their teacher did that on purpose the first week of school. "We were working on it at his house but then the stupid thing happened!"

Davies's eyes were close to falling out of his skull from rolling them so hard. He yanked a wrinkled sheet of paper out of his bag and practically threw it at her.

"Copy it fast before we have to turn it in," he whispered harshly.

Piper gave him a grateful look and made quick work of her blank worksheet. Even with her mind on autopilot she knew to reword her answers just enough to where the teacher didn't suspect plagiarism. Piper almost felt bad knowing that Reese most likely wouldn't be turning the assignment in. She had to remind herself (like Lois often did) that it wasn't her job to do Reese's work for him. It's not like she was a straight A student or had Malcolm's freaky alien-like intellect but she wasn't a bad student, either. And it's not like she wanted him to _fail_.

She subtly slid the worksheet back onto Davies's desk and he barely spared her a glance as he chatted with a few guys beside him. She mouthed a quick 'thanks' when he was looking and he briefly raised his eyebrows which was enough.

Piper's eyes skimmed the room, purposefully avoiding the section she knew Reese was sitting in. When the door to the classroom closed and the final bell rang, she risked a glance in his direction and spotted him slouched in his seat, tossing a pencil back and forth in his hands at the back of the room as he stared ahead at the whiteboard. He didn't even flinch as the teacher asked for their homework, seemingly unbothered that he didn't finish it. His eyes flashed over to hers and for a second their gaze connected. Piper looked away two seconds later, her insides feeling hot. She couldn't read the emotions on his face, not that she gave herself the chance to try.

She hardly focused on any of her lessons that morning. She almost had a run-in with him between her second and third periods but she stumbled through a random door closest to her (which happened to be the girl's restroom) before he got too close. The small glimpse of him she did get, he looked frustrated with a clenched jaw as he grabbed the person closest to him to take his aggression out on. Piper heard the strangled yelp echo through the closed door and she sighed in relief.

By the time lunch came around Piper was a nervous wreck. She convinced herself that by avoiding him she was just making him angrier, giving her even more of a reason to avoid him in the first place despite how guilty she felt about it. It was a vicious circle.

She grabbed a tray of food from the lunchroom and paid for it, not looking to see what meal she actually grabbed before making a beeline to the table outside Davies usually sat at. He was already there with a few guys Piper was well acquainted with and she invited herself to sit next to him, slamming her tray on the table and alerting everyone to her presence.

"Hey," Davies greeted her, eyebrows raised in silent surprise. "Still having a mental freak out?"

"Yep," Piper answered shortly, throwing a leg over to sit on the bench. Davies nodded.

"Alrighty then."

"What's going on?" Seth, Davies's buddy, asked through a mouthful of food.

Davies gestured noncommittally to her with his fork. "She got in a fight with Wilkerson."

_Bless you for not ratting me out,_ Piper thought fondly.

"What'd she do, misplace his hair gel?" Seth asked.

Piper squinted at the occupants of the table. "I didn't realize the way Reese styled his hair was such a hot topic of conversation these days."

"It's not like it looks bad," one of the other boys chimed in, only sounding partially sardonic. "I'd compliment him on it but I'm too afraid it'd somehow offend His Majesty."

"Ugh," was all Piper said.

"Look," Davies held up his hands after taking a bite of his half-eaten sandwich. "I've seen you and Reese literally screaming your heads off at each other and you've always been… you and Reese. I'm sure _this_ isn't going to be a big deal," he gave her a meaningful look before shrugging a shoulder. "Maybe it'll work out okay."

"Anybody want to fill us in on what 'this' is exactly?" Seth asked, waving his hand about in reference to the conversation.

"No," Piper denied immediately. "I'm not telling you squat."

"Your loss," Seth sang lightly.

"I just don't know what to do," Piper said for what felt like the hundredth time. She pushed around the peas on her tray with her plastic spoon, lips turning downward at the food. None of it looked appetizing. "It's just so stupid. Me and my big mouth."

"Ah," Seth pointed an accusing fork at her, flinging loose chunks of mashed potato onto the table. "So you admit it's your fault."

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Davies asked impatiently, ignoring Seth. "You know, like a normal human being."

"I can't just _talk_ to Reese," Piper said as if it were obvious.

"No surprise there," the guy next to Seth sniggered. Piper gave him an unimpressed look and he nudged the guy to his right who Piper recognized to be a sophomore named Parker. "He's a few fries short of a happy meal if you get what I mean."

"A few screws short of a tool chest," Parker added.

"All brawn and no brains."

" _Stop insulting him_ ," Piper said loudly in a monotone voice, unfortunately used to their immature jabs at her best friend.

Seth cleared his throat and Parker had the decency to look mildly chagrinned while the guy Piper didn't know the name of continued grinning irritatingly to himself as he stabbed his food. Piper almost wanted Reese to punch him just for the satisfaction of seeing that stupid grin wiped off his face. Only inwardly did she sometimes approve of Reese's physical altercations but she'd never admit that out loud in fear of encouraging it too obviously. Plus she didn't want him to get suspended or locked away in juvie. Although, she mused, if he was sent to military school maybe she'd conveniently fall out of love with him like her crush on Francis.

"Oh," Seth spoke up again with his mouth full. He swallowed and by that time he had both Piper's and Davies's attention. "By the way, there's a pop quiz in English today. Chapters four and five of _To Kill a Mockingbird_."

Two groans filled the air.

"I don't think I've even read chapter three yet," Davies lamented. "And we already _took_ a test on that chapter."

"Pretty sure our written midterm's gonna be like a two-thousand word essay on the whole book," Seth rolled his eyes.

"I'll go get my book out of the locker so we can speed study," Piper sighed before swinging her leg over the bench.

She made her way to the lockers, sidestepping a few people as she did so. She spotted Malcolm with his friends at one of the tables, ranting about something with wild hand gestures while his friends looked on in exasperation. Stevie seemed a bit more winded than usual, probably in his troubles to intercept Malcolm's rambling before he was too far gone, and Piper shook her head in amusement.

She continued on, slipping around one of the concrete support beams wrapped in vines and overgrowth that separated the lockers from the courtyard. It didn't take long for her to reach hers and she made quick work of turning the dial, but just as she was about to pull the locker open a hand smacked against the locker and held it shut.

Piper jumped an appropriate three feet in the air and whipped her head around to glare at her assailant, only to be spun around and backed into her locker by a body slightly taller than hers. Piper's breath stuttered in her throat at the sudden proximity between her and Reese, hairs standing up on the back of her neck at the annoyed look on his face. Fight or flight instincts once again took over and she tried making her escape but he slammed his other hand on the locker next to her head, effectively caging her in. She swallowed thickly and glanced cautiously up at him, his nose only a few inches from hers.

He opened his mouth to say something but a group of girls, giggling and chatting away, suddenly appeared about five feet away. They didn't look interested at all in Reese or Piper's conversation (or lack thereof) but the furious look Reese shot them immediately stopped them in their tracks. He narrowed his eyes and they backed away, giving the two of them a wide berth as they shuffled away anxiously. He turned back around, setting his angry gaze on her and she almost recoiled from it.

"Look Piper," he began and Piper tried to ignore the delightful way he smelled and the way his yellow shirt contrasted wonderfully with his tan skin. "I may be stupid but I'm not an idiot. I'm pretty sure we're supposed to talk about this. Like, 87% sure."

"Reese, I—"

"Stop talking," he snapped, completely contradicting his earlier statement.

Piper's brows furrowed. "But you said—"

"Tonight," he said, breathing heavily. "My house. Be there."

Piper felt small as she said a quiet, "Okay."

Reese pushed away from the lockers and Piper finally felt like she could breathe again as he stormed off, shoving a freshman boy with round glasses out of his way as he went. The boy shrieked and tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground as all his schoolwork went flying in the air like confetti. Piper watched Reese go with pursed lips, that knot of dread tightening even further in her stomach.

She stood there a good thirty seconds before she headed back to the lunch table feeling slightly nauseous, _To Kill a Mockingbird_ left forgotten in her locker.

* * *

Later that day when she was walking home, she seriously considered doing something bad enough to make her mother so angry with her that she grounded her. Anything to make her stay home, like breaking into her mom's china cabinet or scratching one of her new stainless steel pots or purposefully killing her herb garden by drenching it in insecticide.

She tried to ignore the way walking home alone made her feel because it wasn't helping her case. She wasn't supposed to miss Reese, she was supposed to want to stay away from him. And yeah, she didn't have trouble admitting that maybe she was overreacting a little. The fact that Reese was actually making the effort to talk to her showed that the situation might not be as bad as she thought it was. But being the masochist that she was, she insisted on drowning herself even further in her humiliation. At least for another hour or two.

Because honestly, what _did_ he want to talk about? Reese didn't _talk_.

Well, Piper could argue that sometimes he never stopped talking, but it was always about meaningless things. And when he wasn't talking, Piper never felt obligated to make conversation. The two of them could sit in a room together for hours and not make a single sound if they didn't have to. It was just the way they were. After being friends for so long, it was almost impossible to make each other uncomfortable with silence.

It still begged the question though: what did Reese want to talk about?

Arguably she knew _what_ he wanted to talk about but that didn't mean she knew what he was going to say. Chances are he probably wanted to let her down easy, or as easy as he was capable of anyway; maybe soldier through a few compliments about how she's been such a good friend to him and how much he likes having her in his life, just not in _that_ way. The thought of hearing him actually say those words to her made her want to sink into the pavement and become part of the road. Because yeah, it would hurt. It would suck. She might cry alone in her bedroom later. But it'd also be equally humiliating as her untimely declaration of love.

It's not like she'd stop being his friend (as long as he still wanted to be friends which, if he didn't, she didn't know what she'd do). It'd be awkward for a while. She'd probably tip-toe around him for a bit and things might not be quite the same between them which would also suck, but she'd get over it. It's not like her feelings for him were more important than their friendship.

Piper took a deep breath. She could do this. She'd talk with him, sort their feelings out, and everything would go back to the way it was. She wasn't going to leave it in any other way. She could _do_ this.

After getting a snack from her house (her mom was still at work so she had the kitchen to herself), she decided now was as good a time as any to start heading over there. Whenever they had plans to hang out, it was always right after school anyway so she figured this wouldn't be any different. She paused at the front door, staring contemplatively at her backpack. She decided to bring it, figuring if everything went according to plan they'd go about their usual routine of working on their homework. Or rather, Piper working on their homework while Reese tried to distract her from actually doing the homework.

She made her way to the Wilkerson house, trying to ignore the painful fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

_I can do this,_ she reminded herself.

It didn't take long before she was walking up the path to their front door. She walked inside without knocking as Lois and Hal had gotten used to her visits years ago and generally didn't mind her barging in unannounced. There was idle chatter coming from the kitchen and Piper tried to appear casual and nonchalant as she entered. Lois was cutting up vegetables next to the sink still clad in her blue work shirt while Dewey kicked his legs back and forth at the kitchen table coloring in a book. Malcolm was nowhere to be seen, most likely at Stevie's house, and Hal still had some time before he got home from work.

"Hi guys," she greeted, her voice sounding slightly strained. Lois didn't seem to notice as she tossed Piper a quick smile.

"Hey Piper," she said before returning to dicing celery. "Reese is in his room. He's been in there for a while, God knows what he's doing. Tell him if he's trying to fix something he broke I'll find out what it is and he'll be a dead man. Make sure to mention the 'dead man' part or it won't register."

"Yes ma'am," Piper agreed, only half listening.

She took a deep breath and after ruffling Dewey's short blonde hair, she made her way down the hall to the boys' room. The door was closed, no surprise there, and she stopped in front of it, repeating a mantra of _I can do this I can do this I can do this_ inside her head.

Exhaling slowly, she turned the doorknob and let herself in, only to freeze at the sight that awaited her.

She felt her blood run cold and the hairs on the back of her neck felt electric. It felt like a knife had pierced her gut and was shredding her intestines as she stared with a lump in her throat, mouth open.

One second Reese was on his bed with his hands buried in a blonde girl's hair, lips hungrily attacking hers while she grabbed at his shirt, and the next he was pulling away with a wet smack and staring wide-eyed at Piper with swollen red lips.

"You…" Piper kind of felt like she was going to throw up and she couldn't get another word out as the shredding in her stomach faded away into a hollow pit. Her limbs felt like lead and for a second she couldn't move.

"Piper!" Reese gaped like a fish, fingers still tangled in whatserface's hair who was gazing at Piper with a vacant look in her eyes, lips equally swollen. "I didn't know you were gonna be here so soon, I—"

"I can't believe you…" Piper whispered but it silenced Reese all the same like she'd shouted it. Her lip trembled and her vision blurred as she stared at Reese, her insides churning. "So this is what you wanted, huh?" she asked bitterly, the crack in her voice betraying how hurt she felt. "This was your plan all along? This is your way of _talking_ to me?"

"No," Reese quickly shook his head, eyes still wide. He finally pulled away from the girl and held out his hands to Piper to pacify her. "I swear I didn't plan this, I didn't know it was going to happen! I thought you were going to be here later! I said tonight, right? Maybe I didn't, maybe I just imagined that but it was really vivid so I _thought_ I did…"

Piper was shaking her head halfway through. "You don't have to make excuses. I _get_ it, okay?" she hissed through gritted teeth, tears falling down her cheeks. She saw red. "I read you loud and clear. Thanks, Reese. _Thank you_."

She spun around and there was loud shuffling as Reese tumbled after her with no grace, grabbing onto her arm as she was halfway out the door.

"No, Piper, listen to me, this wasn't—I'm not—"

"God, _save it!_ " Piper jerked out of his grasp, piercing him with a murderous glare. He continued holding his arms out, hand wrapped around thin air like she was still there. He had that kicked puppy look on his face, eyes still wide as saucers but all Piper saw were his swollen-kissed lips and unkempt hair and it just made her angrier. "I knew you were an asshole, Reese, but I didn't think you were that cruel! Honestly," she was yelling at this point, voice echoing down the hall and bouncing off the walls. "Weren't there better ways to tell me? Ways that maybe _wouldn't_ crush me? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself?!"

She turned on her heels and continued on down the hall. There was a pause before Reese stumbled after her again, shoes squeaking against the floor as he pulled and tugged at her shirt or backpack, whatever he could get his hands on. Piper sniffed, her nose feeling congested and her cheeks damp as she stomped through the kitchen, ignoring the silently stunned looks of Lois and Dewey.

"Piper, just let me explain, okay? I swear this wasn't planned! Look, Malcolm, he—"

"I DON'T CARE!" Piper shrieked, stopping short in her tracks by the front door. Despite the desperation on Reese's face Piper just wanted to hit him and the only way she could stop her hand from flying at his cheek was wrapping it in a vice grip around the doorknob. "I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to _look_ at you. Just—just leave me alone, okay? I'm sure that won't be a problem. You looked pretty well occupied," with one last steady glare, she ripped the door open and slammed it shut behind her, rattling the doorframe as she stomped down the path.

She only made it about a hundred feet away before she bent over, hands resting on her knees as she cried. She cupped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds, chest trembling as her lungs contracted painfully against inhaling and exhaling in uneven, spurting breaths. She squeezed her eyes shut to push the tears out, her stomach feeling heavy but also empty at the same time.

This was the part she hated. After admitting that she loved him out loud, it made everything hurt more. She'd seen him with girls before and sure, it sucked, but it never felt like this. It didn't sting. It was like saying it out loud meant she not only admitted it to him but admitted it herself as well and that made her more vulnerable.

If this had happened any other day, literally any other day, it wouldn't have felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and flattened by a bulldozer. She probably would've made a stupid joke, teased him a little until he turned red, and then left to sulk in peace for maybe an hour or two until she got over it. She wouldn't have cried like a baby in the middle of the street. She wouldn't have felt something close to hatred bubbling in her chest at the thought of him. She wouldn't have wanted to march back into his room and rip that girl's hair out and feed it to her.

Well, she probably would've still wanted to do that last one.

It wasn't his job to spare her feelings. It wasn't. And she got that. She really did. It's not like they were together or anything, she wasn't obtuse. He could do whatever he wanted. But really? He had to make out with some random girl in his room _today?_ When he knew she was coming over because she _always_ came over right after school no matter what? He had to have known that she'd walk in on it. He _had_ to have known.

Like he said earlier, he was stupid but he wasn't an idiot.

When she got home her mom was thankfully still at work. She wiped her face and dropped her bag on the couch, trying to quell the urge to call someone like Davies and immediately tell them what happened. That was probably the extra X chromosome in her talking, wanting to dish out how much she hated Reese Wilkerson and that stupid girl he was with to anyone with basic listening skills and understanding of the English language. Instead she made better use of her time by pacing back and forth in her living room, nearly burning a hole in their rug until her anger slowly started to ebb away.

She collapsed onto the couch with a sigh, tilting her head back to rest it on the cushion. A stray tear slipped out of the corner of her eye and she let it fall back into her hair as she watched the ceiling with sad, tired eyes. She hated being a teenager.

* * *

Piper didn't give her mom the chance to interrogate her that night. She washed her face and covered up any indications that she'd been crying before she got home and the night resumed as normal. The phone rang a few times and since they had caller ID Piper took care of them all by picking up the phone and slamming it back onto the receiver right after before her mom had the chance to answer. She was being immature again but she had a feeling it was warranted this time.

Today she had to walk to school and she left a little early so Reese didn't have the chance to run into her on the way. She schooled her expression when she got there, determined to not let her emotions show and more adamant than ever about avoiding the older Wilkerson.

She stormed through the open gates and headed straight for her locker to gather her things. On the way she managed to slam her shoulder into a boy walking the opposite direction as her, causing him to flail and drop the armful of things he was carrying. She told herself she'd apologize later, still seeing tunnel vision to her locker, but as she stomped across his papers and left dirty footprints on all his hard work, she realized it was the same boy Reese had purposefully shoved the day before.

She halted a couple feet away, grinding her teeth behind her closed mouth. She then spun on her heels and knelt down where the frazzled boy was trying to collect his schoolwork and books while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry," she said shortly. "Let me _help_ you."

He gave her a frightened look and let her do as she pleased, too jumpy to disagree. She roughly collected all the papers within arm's reach and thrust them into his chest with a forced smile.

"See? I'm a _nice_ person," she said pointedly, enunciating her words as if she were talking to a toddler. He shrunk back, the freckles on his cheeks contorting as he frowned, but she kept going. "I'm not a _jackass_ like some people. I don't string people along and put on some stupid tough guy act to save face and hurt everyone around me because deep down I'm really insecure about myself. I'm a _good_ human being."

The boy still had a terrified look on his face, utterly clueless as to what she was talking about, but she nodded anyway, satisfied that she'd made her point. With that, she pushed herself off the ground and continued on her way to her locker as he stared after her, feeling slightly better about herself than before. She forcefully opened her locker and exchanged a few books, lips thin until she heard someone approach her.

"Well," the breezy voice of Davies met her ears. "Not even eight am yet and you've already managed to make a freshman cry. I'd say that's a record."

"What?" Piper whipped her head around in shock.

"Okay he didn't actually cry," Davies conceded, ambling over to his locker. "He just looked like he was going to. What'd he do to piss you off?"

"Nothing," Piper's shoulders sunk. She rubbed the heel of her palm against her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "What's happening to me, Davies? Why do I have to have human emotion? He's turning me into a monster."

"Who, the freshman?" Davies squinted at her.

"No," she deadpanned. "Reese."

"Oh yeah, did you talk to him?" he asked, frowning at a burger wrapper he found wadded up in the back corner of his locker.

"Hah!" Piper snorted, zipping up her backpack.

Davies glanced from the wrapper to her warily. "What does that mean?"

She slammed her locker shut with force. "It means I hate him."

She left before he had the chance to reply, annoyed that he managed to make her feel angry again. She didn't get very far though before another body blocked her path. If it was Reese she was going to start swinging but instead she was met with his younger brother, Malcolm. She was a bit taken aback and she opened her mouth to say something but he beat her to it.

"I'm sorry," the words spilled quickly from his mouth, his arms flying in that characteristically wild way they did whenever he went on a rant. "I don't know what's going on between you and Reese but I feel like it's my fault. See, I was trying to date this girl but she was stupid. I mean like really stupid and it was impossible to hold a decent conversation with her but Reese tried to help me out. I shut off my brain for a few days and everything was good, great even, but then mom caught me with a six pack of beer at the dance and I said the word paradox in a sentence so she dumped me and I guess she went after Reese without my knowing because he's equally as dumb as her and I guess low IQs attract so that's why she was there."

Piper blinked, her face void of any emotion as she stared at a heavily breathing Malcolm. She was more surprised by the huge run-on sentence than anything else but after a couple more seconds of watching Malcolm try to catch his breath and not-so-subtly gauge her reaction to his winded confession, she scowled down at him, eyes ablaze.

"You don't have to stick up for him, Malcolm."

Malcolm's face twisted, looking mildly perturbed by the suggestion. "I'm not. Everything I said was absolutely true. Besides, I never stick up for Reese. He's an idiot, remember?"

"Oh I think I might recall," Piper retorted dryly.

Malcolm held up his hands again. "So I just wanted to say I'm sorry because I heard about you yelling at him and mom freaked out when she found Alison in his room because she didn't know she was there – he's grounded for two weeks by the way if it's any consolation – but I just thought maybe it was my fault because I kind of got him into this. But I'm not apologizing for him, I'm apologizing for you because it seemed like you really got your feelings hurt somehow."

Piper's eyes skimmed the boy's face. It seemed like a genuine apology, plus Malcolm was never one to lie to her on anyone's behalf. They'd always gotten along pretty well. Her shoulders slumped again and she sighed, readjusting her backpack strap.

"It's okay Malcolm, it's not your fault."

They naturally began walking together in an aimless direction.

"So what exactly happened?" Malcolm asked, watching their feet as they meandered across the courtyard.

"Nothing, it's stupid," Piper shook her head, squinting through the ray of sunlight.

"Didn't seem like nothing the way mom was talking about it," Malcolm pointed out, his forehead wrinkling as he reflected on the night before. "Reese was weirdly quiet the whole time, too. He didn't even complain about his punishment which is really unlike him."

Piper wasn't going to let that sway her. "Yeah well he deserved it."

Malcolm was silent for a few seconds.

"Do you like him?" he finally asked carefully. Piper gave him a sharp look and he was quick to defend himself, "I mean, I can't help but connect the dots, you know? You show up, Reese's got a girl in his room, you freak out on him and storm out. It all just kind of… makes sense, you know?" he shrugged helplessly. "It'd explain why you've put up with him for so long."

"Reese isn't… hard to put up with," Piper denied even though it pained her to stick up for him. She rushed to add, "Most of the time, anyway."

Malcolm didn't disagree even though it looked like he wanted to. "You know, I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about."

"I know," Piper said and it was basically answer enough. Malcolm nodded and they walked quietly, circling back around to where he found her by the lockers.

"So," he said and it was a loaded word. "Reese. Wow. I feel sorry for you."

Piper recognized his effort at lightening the mood and she rolled her eyes, inwardly grateful. "Gee, thanks."

"I mean, did you hit your head or something? Did he threaten you? Has he been holding you against your will in his room all this time whenever you're over? Because there's this thing called Stockholm Syndrome you might want to read up on."

Piper could tell he was joking by the slight curve of his mouth and she grinned a little in return.

"Forget about me. How'd you manage to shut off your brain for a few days?" she asked. The bell rang and they headed towards the doors, lingering in the back as a crowd formed on its way inside. "I didn't even know that was possible for you."

"Well, Reese told me to just do what he does. He sings the Mint—"

"—Minty Mints song," Piper nodded, very familiar with the tune. "Yeah, right. Last time he sang that we were about to wreck my dad's golf cart. I'm surprised at you," she commented, glancing down at Malcolm slyly. "Dumbing yourself down for a girl. That's low."

"Yeah," Malcolm reluctantly agreed, gazing off into the distance like he was having war flashbacks. "I don't even know what got into me. It was like I was in a parallel universe where everyone around me was smarter and I was the idiot. And I laughed way too much at the word 'boobs'."

"Did Reese end up pulling that whole 'accidentally saying the word 'do' twice and making it sound like doo-doo' thing he always does?" she asked.

"Yeah," Malcolm scrunched up his face. "We ended up laughing at it for fifteen minutes."

"Oh to be young and carefree," Piper sighed wistfully, grinning at him again.

"Never again," he shivered. They paused between two hallways, knowing they needed to head in opposite directions. "Well, I'm sorry again about all of that. Hopefully you two can work things out," Malcolm's voice was a bit more serious. "You're honestly the only friend he's got and without you he's even more impossible to deal with than usual. He punched me in the shoulder for using the bathroom before him this morning."

"I'll try to make amends so things can be better for you," Piper nodded with false sincerity. "Not for us, but for you."

"Much appreciated," he grinned before turning down the hallway, leaving Piper to watch him go with a hint of regret.

Why couldn't she just have a crush on Malcolm? It's not like he wasn't attractive. Him and Reese shared the same genes, and plus there wouldn't be nearly as much stress in her life. Except maybe when he actually made her finish her homework and study for midterms every semester.

_Pity,_ she thought.

* * *

The rest of the week went by in a flash, her days jam-packed with studying for midterms and spending as much time out of the house as possible to avoid having a talk with her mother about what happened. Reese stopped trying to get her attention after about two days and Piper hated that she was upset about it even though she still intended on avoiding him. Yeah, she was having a hard time following the logic of her brain, too.

But instead of focusing on that, she was stewing in the fact that Reese continued to see that blonde dimwit she caught him locking lips with. Every day, whether it was across the courtyard, in the hallway or somewhere in between, she saw them either holding hands or making out against a wall. At first Piper was so peeved about it that she broke her number two pencil but as the days progressed she became mostly desensitized to the distasteful PDA aside from an occasional eye roll or dry heave in Davies's general direction. Every now and then she would feel Reese's eyes on the back of her head whenever she knew she was walking a few paces in front of them but she never turned around despite how much her conscience told her to.

The weekend came and went – Piper spending most of it with Davies and Seth at the mall – and before she knew it, it was a new week. Teachers were really starting to get on their case about finals, cramming in random papers and little projects with hardly any time to complete it all. Students were being assigned tutors to help them get a high grade on the midterm so they could pass their classes and Piper only knew this because she overheard a girl in passing mention that a boy named Malcolm was tutoring her on her Trigonometry assignments. Piper only knew one Malcolm.

And, of course, she was greeted with a sight she couldn't tell she was appalled by or not the following day at lunch. She just excused herself from Davies's table to make her way inside before she overheated and she saw Malcolm – or an exact copy of him – leaning against a table with a girl's legs wrapped around his waist from behind as she sat on top. Piper blinked at the odd display, not entirely convinced it was Malcolm she was seeing but she was certain it was the same girl she overheard the day before.

Squinting in disbelief, she made her way towards them, catching the tail end of Stevie's breathless comment from where he sat in his wheelchair in front of them.

"… if you passed… your Trig test?"

"Oh yeah," the girl grinned proudly, her small button nose wrinkling cutely as she stuffed it into the back of Malcolm's neck. "D minus. Thank you, baby."

Malcolm shrugged modestly, looking far too pleased with her attention, and Piper almost felt impressed if it weren't for the fact that she still wasn't sure this wasn't just a figment of her imagination. Malcolm spotted her when she stopped next to Stevie, still giving him a weird look like he'd grown two extra heads.

"Hey Piper," he greeted much too cheerfully.

"Hey…" she hedged carefully. The girl currently wrapped around him like a koala gave Piper an equally happy smile, her blonde hair ruffling in the wind as she stroked Malcolm's stomach. Piper gestured between them. "Are you two…?"

"Together? Yeah," the girl answered quickly, leaning even further into Malcolm. Any closer and the two would be occupying the same space, something Piper didn't think was scientifically possible. "He started tutoring me in Trig and then we kissed and we've spent almost every waking moment together ever since my dad yelled at him about his time in Vietnam."

"Mazel tav," Piper said, her thoughts having derailed after 'we kissed'. She tried to pinch herself without anyone noticing, wincing at the sting in her arm. She was awake. _Well damn, way to go Malcolm._

"What have… you been… up to?" Stevie asked, looking up at her with his round, magnifying-like glasses. She bestowed the boy with a half-grin. She liked Stevie.

"Oh this and that," she replied vaguely. "Studying. Going to the mall," she bobbed her head. "You know, the usual."

"Ooh, the mall," the girl announced with a delicate squeal. "Let's go there."

She hopped off the table and Stevie wheezed a little.

"You mean… ditch?"

"Well yeah, it's just P.E.," she shrugged carelessly.

"But that's… a class."

"And it'll be there tomorrow," she gave Stevie a funny smile. "Come on," she looked to Piper. "You wanna join us?"

Malcolm subtly shook his head at Piper and she pretended not to notice it. She gave the girl a breezy smile.

"Oh no thanks," she waved an arm, playing it off. "I've got English and I'm pretty sure there's going to be another pop quiz. Mr. Henderson really needs a new gimmick."

"Okay," the girl shrugged, collecting her purse. "I'm Nikki, by the way."

She scampered forward with a sway in her hips, tossing an alluring look over her shoulder at Malcolm before smiling sweetly and continuing on her way. Stevie balked at the look, mildly enthralled but also put off by the influence she seemed to have over his best friend. Malcolm didn't try to hide his swoon and he chanced a glance down at Stevie who rolled his eyes.

"Why… pretend?" he relented.

Malcolm nodded. "You're right," he pulled his backpack off the table and tripped after Nikki, waving his arm over his head. "Bye guys!"

Piper watched him go, feeling the disappointment radiating off of Stevie in waves.

"They grow up so fast," she shook her head.

"How… do we make… it stop?"

So Malcolm had a girlfriend. Piper kind of felt like a proud parent but she kept an eye on them the next couple of days anyway, still hardwired to watch after him even if she wasn't on speaking terms with his brother. But by sticking close to them, she inevitably heard about Reese and his _girlfriend_ Alison. Somewhere in the middle of Malcolm's jabbering about basketball and hiding from Nikki's father, he managed to slip in that Reese and Alison were going to a concert Friday night if they could find a ride.

The more Piper heard about them, the more she wanted to just give up the charade and talk to Reese. She didn't like hearing about his life through someone else. It made her feel too much like an outsider, like she wasn't part of his life anymore. It made her feel uneasy just thinking about it and as she thought about it throughout the week, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it, the idea of just swallowing her pride and going to see him was starting to sound more and more appealing. She missed seeing him every day; missed going over to his house for dinner every other night and giggling in her room over a well-developed plan to prank her neighbors. It felt like a huge chunk of her life was missing and with each passing day the feeling only continued to grow.

By Friday afternoon she had every intention of going over to the Wilkerson house to speak to Reese before his concert but then her mom talked her into going on a mass grocery shopping spree by taunting her with the prospect of sugar m&m cookies. Her mother knew her weakness so she tagged along to help and by the time they got back it was dark outside and way too late for her to try to talk to Reese. Instead of feeling deterred, she told herself she'd drop in tomorrow no matter what.

* * *

When Saturday finally came, that knotted feeling in the pit of Piper's stomach returned at full force. Because she was a coward she ended up waiting until later that afternoon when the sun was beginning to set before she worked herself up into getting dressed.

_I'll just go over there, force Reese into talking to me, we'll sort things out and figure out where we stand,_ she told herself with false surety as she dried her hair after her shower. _It'll be quick and painless and hopefully it'll mean we're back to being friends again and my life will be back to normal._

The only thing that made her draw the line was if Alison was there. She was past the violent streak of wanting to rip the girl's hair out but that didn't mean she'd be able to stomach being in the same room with them. She idly wondered if Lois and Hal approved of Alison. Last she heard they grounded Reese for having her in his room which had to have put some marks against her in their book. Not that Piper cared, or so she told herself.

_It's none of my business,_ she reminded herself, digging through her drawer for something to wear. _That's not what I'm going there for. If I want to be friends with him, I have to accept his decisions and be supportive. I won't insult Alison or make any negative remarks against the fact that he has a girlfriend. I will be reassuring and compassionate because that's my job as his best friend and I'm a decent person._

But if he didn't want to be friends anymore then attacking Alison, verbally or physically, was free game.

Satisfied with her appearance, Piper made her way into the living room where her mother was watching an old program on TV while sipping a fresh glass of iced tea.

"Hey mom," she called. The woman turned her head. "I'm going over to Reese's for a bit, okay?"

"Oh really?" her mother asked, surprise etched onto her face. "Because I was under the impression you two were no longer speaking to each other. Wonder why that is?"

"Mom," Piper rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Please, not now. I've been preparing myself for two days to speak to him and I can't have you doing the mom thing."

"What mom thing?" her mother asked defensively.

"The whole heart-to-heart thing all mothers feel like they need to have whenever their kid's hit a rough patch. I know you want to teach me the right thing morally and I'm sure whatever you have to say I haven't already thought at least once in the past two weeks so let's just pretend we talked and hugged it out, alright?"

Her mother scrutinized her for a few seconds. "Was it really that bad? Whatever happened with you and Reese?"

Piper shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I feel like it's mostly my fault. Like, 93% my fault. I started it and I finished it and if I hadn't made such a big deal about everything then maybe none of this would have happened."

Her mom hummed in sympathy. "Well, we all make mistakes. The least we can do is learn from them," she inclined her head. "Go on. Be back by eight please."

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully, planting a kiss on her mother's cheek as she passed her. "Love you!"

"Love you, too!" her mom called right before she closed the door behind her.

She half-jogged, half-walked all the way to Reese's house, adamant about not thinking too much lest she psych herself out and run the opposite way. What she said to her mom was the truth. She didn't want to admit it at first but she knew deep down that she was the one who screwed up. Like most people, she had a fear of rejection and she figured the best way to avoid that was by, well, avoiding the problem. It left a bitter taste in her mouth and it sort of felt like her pride had been wounded a bit but, well. She probably deserved that.

She reached their house in record time and paused at the end of the walkway, taking a few deep breaths. It'd been a while since her and Reese had a real fight. It was times like those when she understand why so many people were afraid of him. It's not like she enjoyed fighting. She hated confrontation just as much as he did.

Licking her lips, she made her way up to the door and stopped short again. Making a split second decision, she reached forward and rang the doorbell. The action felt off like she wasn't really supposed to be doing it but a part of her didn't feel welcome anymore, like maybe Reese had managed to turn his whole family against her even though Malcolm didn't seem to have a problem with keeping her in his life. It took about twenty seconds or so before anyone answered and much to Piper's relief it was her current favorite Wilkerson.

"Hey," Malcolm said, clearly taken aback by her presence.

"Hey," she replied awkwardly, twiddling her fingers. "I'm actually here to see Reese," Malcolm's eyebrows rose. "Is he… is he here?"

"Yeah we just finished dinner," Malcolm answered warily. As if forgetting his manners, he quickly stepped back and gestured her forward. "Uh, come in. I'll get him."

As Piper stepped inside, feeling oddly like she hadn't been inside their house in months, Malcolm shrieked at the top of his lungs, " _ **REESE GET IN HERE YOU HAVE COMPANY!**_ "

Clutching her ringing eardrum, Piper glared at Malcolm with a look of dark contempt. " _I_ could've done that, you know."

"Yeah but you weren't going to," he smiled widely as Reese came into view. Malcolm patted her on the back. "Good luck."

Piper rubbed her sore ear, wincing a bit as Malcolm shouldered past Reese, giving him a look she didn't quite understand. Reese made a face at Malcolm before his eyes met hers and he stopped himself a few feet away with an unreadable expression. Piper licked her lips again, her throat feeling dry as they stared each other down for a good minute and a half in complete silence.

"Can I help you?" Reese finally cracked, a sarcastic lilt to his words.

"Um," she rubbed her palms together nervously. "Do you mind if we talk in your room?"

"Why yes, I do mind," Reese countered with a dry smile. "I'm not _allowed_ to have girls in my room anymore after my mom found out I snuck one in," Piper cringed at the blatant accusation, rubbing her arm now in discomfort. Reese carried on in a painfully casual tone, "So whatever you have to say, you can say it right here."

Piper eyeballed the kitchen where his entire family seemed to be huddled by the fridge out of sight listening in on their entire conversation. She shifted anxiously and avoided Reese's piercing gaze.

"Right," she mumbled, wishing the floor would just open up beneath her and swallow her whole. "I just wanted to… talk," she repeated lamely.

"Huh, that's funny," Reese remarked, tilting his head. "Because I remember trying to talk to you two weeks ago and you ignored me."

"Well that's because you—!" Piper bit the inside of her lip, clenching her first. She took a deep breath as Reese blinked, smiling innocently as he watched her temper flare. Once she felt composed, she tried again in a much calmer tone. "That's because you were making out with the dimwit—with Ali—with the _blonde_ girl," she tried to smile through gritted teeth.

"Which wasn't some scheme to get back at you for what you said," Reese told her slowly. "If I remember correctly I tried to say that, too."

Piper rubbed her temples, feeling the pressure build up behind her eyes. "Reese, please, just look at it from my perspective, okay? I told you that"—her eyes flickered towards the kitchen—"I told you what I _told_ you and then you invited me over and coincidentally Alis— _the blonde girl_ was here too sucking your face off. I mean," she waved her arms around. "Obviously I was going to jump to that conclusion!"

"Maybe so," he snarked. "But that doesn't mean I set it up that way."

"You just told me you snuck her into your room!" Piper pointed an accusing finger at him. Reese frowned and Piper tried not to find his pouting lips endearing.

"Okay, so I did, but that's only because she was already outside fighting with Malcolm so I didn't invite her over here, I just snuck her in _after_ she already got here!" he explained, brows pulled together.

"Why did you sneak her in when you knew I was coming over?" Piper asked in a shrill voice.

"Because she wanted to make out. It's not like I was going to say no," Reese retorted in a 'duh' tone as if she should've already known that. Piper ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, trying to ignore the way his comment made her stomach churn.

"And _that's_ why my feelings got hurt when I saw you with her! All you cared about was making out with her instead of talking to me!" Piper exclaimed with a deep frown on her face. Reese's lips turned down at the serious look she gave him. "What I said to you was kind of a big deal and even though I didn't mean to say it, it doesn't mean it meant nothing to me!"

"Well _excuse_ me for thinking otherwise," Reese snapped, leaning forward. "Because it looked to me like you wanted to forget the whole thing ever happened!"

"I _did!_ " Piper shouted.

"Then _why_ are you even here right now?!"

"Because I thought maybe we could make amends!" said Piper thickly, her eyes wet. "I missed you! I wanted to apologize for ignoring you because, yeah, I get that it was stupid of me, okay?! I get that I made a mistake! I'm _sorry!_ "

Reese's shoulders slumped, seemingly disappointed.

"Fine," he accepted quietly. "Fine, apology accepted. You can leave now."

Piper had no idea what she did wrong. "What are you talking about?"

Reese spread his arms out, cheeks flustered. "Is that all you wanted to do? _Apologize?_ "

"Yeah?" Piper squinted before shaking her head. "I mean, I know I was being an idiot. I thought apologizing would help!"

Reese narrowed his eyes and the air felt thick. "So we're not going to talk about how you're in love with me."

Piper sputtered, hearing someone bump into the fridge at the announcement and curse beneath their breath. The hairs on her arms stood on end and she felt electrified, her face red as a tomato. She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders.

"Don't you still have a girlfriend?" she asked, realizing afterwards how out of the blue it sounded.

" _No,_ " Reese spat. "She broke up with me last night."

Piper recoiled as if she'd been slapped, not expecting him to say that.

"Oh," she muttered with lack of anything better to say. Was she supposed to apologize for that, too?

"'Oh'," Reese mocked her with a snort. Piper squinted at him again and bristled at the way he scowled in her direction and rolled his eyes like an immature toddler.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE SUCH A TOOL?" she screamed. Reese had no trouble with the increase in volume and threw it right back at her.

"THAT DEPENDS, WHAT KIND OF TOOL? A SCREW OR A WRENCH?" he waved a finger at her with a derisive smirk. "YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE."

Piper groaned loudly at the illogical ultimatum but she answered anyway.

"FINE, A SCREW BECAUSE YOU'RE SO SCREWED IN THE HEAD."

"HOW CAN YOU SCREW SOMEONE IN THE HEAD?"

"Oh my god," she braced her temples again, the pain behind her eyes throbbing in tune with her raging heartbeat. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She felt like she was going burst a vein. "I can't—I can't do this. I'm not doing this with you. This is getting us _nowhere_ ," she glowered at him before pointing. "Look, if you wanted to tell me you didn't feel the same way then all you had to do was say so. We could've forgotten this whole thing ever happened!"

Reese scoffed.

"It's not that easy!" he fired back, hazel eyes ablaze. "You can't just tell me you're in love with me and expect me to automatically know what to say back! I'm not a mind reader!"

Piper suddenly felt like twice her age. "I didn't expect you to say anything, Reese," she told him tiredly. "I just wanted to forget it ever happened. Do you know how humiliating that was? First I didn't even mean to say it in the first place and then I saw that look on your face."

Reese's face scrunched up, unknowingly giving her the exact same look she was referring to. "What look?"

"That look you get when you completely don't _get_ what someone said! Like I was speaking in some foreign language to you and you didn't know how to politely tell me to shut up!"

Reese looked like he was about to explode.

"I look like that _all_ the time!" he yelled, voice cracking at the high octave. "That's just my _face_ , Piper!"

"Well tell your face to stop!" she chided, sounding about as ridiculous as she felt, like a petulant child having a tantrum. She huffed through her nose and turned away for a second to recollect her thoughts. None of this was turning out the way she planned. Reese waited until she finally turned back around, an impatient look on his face. She tried to steady her voice again. "Look, let's just get everything off our chest, okay? Like ripping off a bandaid. I'll start," she cleared her throat and connected their gaze, a firm set in her brow. "So yeah, maybe I'm in love with you," she nodded, waving her arms like she didn't care about the admission.

"Maybe I'm in love with your stupid I-don't-get-you face and the way you pout when you don't get what you want. Maybe I'm in love with you when you get us in trouble or when you put bubble gum in my hair," her voice lowered a bit, words coming out rushed but soft as Reese's throat worked from how stiffly he swallowed. "Maybe I'm in love with you no matter what you say to me or how you treat me because I guess that's just what love is—loving someone even if they're a total dickhead to you," she let out a light breath. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to treat you any differently, okay?" she told him honestly. "From—from here on out I won't say anything that'll make you uncomfortable, I won't make a pass at you," she listed off her fingers, "I'll act like I always have and eventually, hopefully, the feeling will go away," she put her hand down and inhaled slowly, feeling like her insides were about to sink out of her stomach.

Oddly enough she felt lighter despite how much her chest felt like it was on fire.

"Okay," she nodded delicately with a careful, nervous half-smile, "now your turn."

Reese didn't say anything for a few seconds, like his mind was still trying to catch up to everything she just said.

"Do you want the feeling to go away?" he asked instead, voice returning to its usual naivety.

"What?" Piper blinked. "No. Yes. I don't know," she shrugged helplessly. "It's not exactly easy when you don't feel the same way."

Reese raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Oh so now _you're_ the mind reader telling me how I feel?"

Piper could steadily feel her blood pressure rising again. "Well it was pretty obvious considering you were sucking that girl's face off the day after I said it!"

"OH MY GOD WILL YOU STOP ACTING LIKE THAT MEANS ANYTHING?" Reese shouted, tugging his hair out of frustration.

"HOW CAN I NOT ACT LIKE IT MEANT SOMETHING? WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK?" she retaliated. He threw his arms in the air.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE WRONG! IT WAS JUST BAD TIMING."

"JUST TELL ME YOU DON'T FEEL THE SAME WAY ALREADY."

"I CAN'T."

"WHY NOT?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU TOO."

Piper opened and closed her mouth at least three or four times, feeling like her heart stopped beating altogether. The color drained from her cheeks and for a moment she wondered if she was getting any real oxygen flow to her brain. Reese was leaning forward again as he waited for her to say something or do anything, half looking like he regretted every word and half devil-may-care.

When it finally felt like her heart had started up again, she felt a fluttering in her stomach that almost made her want to either laugh or throw up or jump up and down and scream. And suddenly she found herself shouting again.

"REALLY?"

"YES," Reese shouted back, flushed all the way down to his neck. "GOD. AND YOU CALL ME THE STUPID ONE," he repeated slowly, enunciating all the syllables with careful precision, "I. LOVE. YOU."

Her chest felt like it was on fire again and Piper was convinced her heart had swelled to twice its size.

"I'VE NEVER CALLED YOU STUPID," she denied after knocking her brain back on track. "I THINK YOU'RE VERY SMART IN YOUR OWN WAY."

Reese nodded sternly.

"THANK YOU."

"YOU'RE WELCOME."

Neither of them said anything. Piper felt like something was supposed to happen now but everything felt strangely complete. Satisfied. The way Reese was looking at her made her feel exposed like he was examining her from the inside out, getting used to the shift between them and all the new things this exchange opened up for them. The way his eyes danced over her form made her squirm and she shifted restlessly in her spot, feeling the way her shoes had left imprints in the carpet from standing in one position so long.

Unable to take the silence any longer, Piper opened her mouth.

"SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?"

Reese stared at her for a moment, still giving her that soul-wrenching look like he was seeing her, really seeing her, for the first time. When he finally tore his gaze from hers her breath stuttered in her throat. He glanced from left to right.

"LET'S JUST WATCH SOME TV."

"FINE THEN."

"FINE."

They both collapsed onto the couch and Reese grabbed the remote, turning the television on and settling for whatever was already playing. The two of them crossed their arms over their chest, sitting a bit closer than usual with scowls still planted on their faces. They exchanged heated glares before turning their attention to the TV at the same time, settling back into the cushions with pursed lips and red cheeks.

The rest of the family peeked their head over the counter in the kitchen, eyes wide and mouths hanging open as they gazed at the two teenagers still adamantly focused on the documentary playing on the screen.

Malcolm's face contorted into some form of otherworldly confusion even he couldn't comprehend and he stared straight ahead with wrinkled eyebrows.

"What the hell?"

_fin._


End file.
